Remembrance Day

Well, I am a couple days late to posting about Remembrance Day, but I hope that everyone was able to take a moment to think about the people who have sacrificed and continue to put their lives on the line for our freedom.

History has always been my favourite topic, so it’s easy for me to take a weekend and dedicate my time to learning something about any of the wars. Not only is it to expand my knowledge, but to also try to get even just a glance into the emotional side of what men and women go through. I’ll never be able to come close to understanding, but I feel like my empathy for them grows and maybe I have somewhat of a clearer image than I did before.

Anyways, today my post is of some very good books and movies I have read that I have watched or am watching for this long weekend.

Movies/ TV:

Band of Brothers- it’s what I’m currently watching (ep.2) and is AMAZING. I watch this show every single year. My brother is loaning me his copy of Pacific too, so I’ll start that this week as well! Band of Brothers follows Easy Company as they go through the war. Easy Company were part of the Airborne division and were the guys who parachuted out of a plane on D- Day in WW2. The show follows their training process, their jump on D- Day and the fights up until the end of the war. Tom Hanks is an executive producer of the show, and you also get to see his son in the series too! Very cool!

Saving Private Ryan- Another awesome and obvious movie to add to the list. During WW2, soldiers were sent to find a Private Ryan. As letters are being typed up to send to the families whose members had died in the war, a woman notices that 3 of the soldiers were from the same family. The mother was being notified that 3 of her 4 sons had died and at the same time, because of D- Day. Soldiers are sent on a mission to find the last brother to bring him home safe to his family who had just gone through a big loss. Based on a true story, Steven Spielberg writes and directs an amazing story. The way D- Day is filmed is the best in that movie.

Pearl Harbor- Love this movie. It makes me cry every time! This one is easy to explain! It’s the movie about the attack of the Japanese on the Americans in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii! The Americans had not yet entered the war, and were getting used to living their lives in Hawaii. Pearl Harbor was the attack that officially made them enter the WW2. Michael Bay directs this movie- I had no idea!

Dunkirk! I freaking love this movie! I talk about it a lot! An awesome Christopher Nolan movie! The back story behind Dunkirk, is that in 1940 the Germans had moved into France. The British and French were attempting to escape out through Dunkirk but were trapped on the bay by the Germans. The movie, doesn’t give a ton of background, but focuses strictly on their escape. The entire movie you are stressed! There is barely any sound, so loud noises begin to scare you, the sound of the clock makes you stressed and impatient. There are barely any lines, almost no talking, so you never know what anyone’s really thinking. It’s like you’re there! Super stressful, but truly an amazing show of survival instinct.

Schindler’s List- Another Steven Speilberg. This movie is so sad. It’s the longest movie I’ve ever seen. It felt like it was 6 hours of just me crying! The movie is about a German business man who starts a factory for Jewish workers to make money. When the Jews begin to be exterminated, Schindler tries to save his workers by making excuses to keep his factory operating. It’s an emotional movie, shot in black and white.

Enemy at the Gate- this movie, has some romance in it too actually, but is about the Russians stopping the Germans from entering Russia. Russia is almost unconquerable because of the amount of land and the cold environment. Men were freezing and dying. Vassili is a Russian sniper, who has been deemed a hero. The movie focuses on him fighting a Nazi sniper who is sent to kill the man who is the hero. The movie is awesome, because it shows what Russian soldiers had to deal with in WW2. For example, Stalin limited supplies to fighters so there would be 1 gun to 3 people.

Alright, I’m moving onto Books before I run out of room here!

The Secret Of Raven point (Jennifer Vanderbes)- I’ve talked about this book in the past, but it’s about a girl who joins the military as a nurse to find her brother who has gone missing. The book focuses on being a nurse in WW2, and what they witnessed and had been through with the constant trauma cases.

The Nightingale (Kristin Hannah)- Oh my god. My brother’s girlfriend suggested this book to me and it was one of the best books I’ve ever read! It focuses on two sisters during WW2. The one sister constantly puts her life on the line for her country (France)and becomes a spy. The other sister is more reserved, but ends up playing a big part in the war by protecting kids.

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)- This book is told from the perspective of death. An orphan gets adopted by a German family during WW2. Her father teaches her how to read, who grows to love books. Liesel even rescues one from the Nazi book burning. Her father resists joining the Nazi party and even houses a Jewish boy at one point.

The Diary of Anne Frank- I read this book in grade 4, and can remember the stress I felt throughout the book. If you don’t know the story, Anne Frank was a girl in WW2 who wrote about her experiences hiding from the Nazi’s in Amsterdam. It is worth the read to truly understand what the Jewish people had gone through.

Night (Eilie Wiesel)- is an autobiography about a Jewish man who was sent to a concentration camp. He describes his days living at Auschwitz. I feel like that is all I should say about it.

The Nazi Hunters (Andrew Nagorski)- this is a history book focusing on the trials of the Nazi commanders and higher ups in Germany after the war. It was interesting, because it discussed some of the hunting that people did to try to find the high ranking commanders hiding in places like Argentina. It also discussed the Nuremburg trials, and the process of the trials.

The Nazi Officers Wife (Edith Hahn Beer, Susan Dworkin)- The last book I have, and another autobiography. Edith Hahn was a Jewish lady living in Vienna, Austria. She had managed to escape a work camp, and had a friend forge papers for her. The book goes into her life in hiding and actually marrying a Nazi officer at some point!

Easy Company Soldier (Donald George Malarkey) – If you LOVE Band of Brothers like me, then you will love this book! It’s actually an autobiography on Sergeant Malarkey who was apart of Easy Company! He talks about his decision to join the army, and all the important parts of the war. Also, what parts Hollywood wanted to include versus what actually happened! It would be a good gift idea for a Band of Brothers author!

I think that’s good for now! I have many many more books and movies that I have read throughout the years. My love for history can be credited to my dad and his passion for history!